Transfer Plays To Sell-Out Crowd

The Manhattan Transfer Thursday, Aug. 3, The Festival at Sandpoint

Swinging New York City street sounds might be the last thing you’d expect to hear on a sultry North Idaho night.

But it was a winning combination Thursday as The Manhattan Transfer opened this year’s Festival at Sandpoint concert series before a sell-out crowd at Memorial Field.

The immensely popular vocal quartet got its start in the early ‘70s playing Big Apple clubs. With voicings based on the sax section of the old Count Basie band - bass, tenor, alto and soprano - jazz is its foundation.

There was plenty of that Thursday, from the ‘30s-era “Moten’s Swing” to the ‘70s fusion of “Birdland,” the Transfer’s signature tune that earned them the first two of their 11 Grammys.

They also previewed several songs from their upcoming Louis Armstrong tribute album, “The Spirit of St. Louis,” with bass singer and founder Tim Hauser providing a credible Satchmo impersonation.

But the Transfer demonstrated its considerable versatility as well, with a set list ranging from the boogie-woogie “Route 66” to the Latin-tinged “Brasil” to the gospel-oriented “Operator” to the doo-wop pop of “Boy From New York City,” the by-request encore closer.

Along with their tight ensemble work, each member had opportunities to stretch out individually: Hauser on “Java Jive,” tenor Alan Paul on “Trinkle Trinkle,” alto Janis Siegel on an Ella Fitzgerald-influenced “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” and stylish, hair-tossing soprano Cheryl Bentyne (originally of Mount Vernon, Wash.) on the soaring “Heart’s Desire.”

The Transfer’s sparse (too sparse, for some tastes) but talented back-up band also shined, particularly guitarist Wayne Johnson and sax player Larry Klimas.

The Spokane-born Johnson contributed a series of clean, concise solos that sounded deceptively simple but were technically impressive. Klimas took center stage for the smoking Armstrong tune “Hotter Than That,” then stepped back to add soothing flute to the mellow Paul composition “The Quietude.”

Setting an appropriate tone for the evening was opening act The Standards, five brothers from Twin Falls, Idaho, (none, apparently, actual twins) who delighted the crowd with their a cappella vocals and slick choreography on such classics as “Lean On Me,” “Just My Imagination” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”

For their pre-encore closer, the siblings offered an original, the anthemic “I Believe” (“I believe you and me/Can live in perfect harmony.”)

After all, The Manhattan Transfer has been doing that for almost 30 years now.